Outlander Sport

Over in Europe car buyers looking for an efficient, full-size SUV have become quite taken with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, a vehicle that is topping sales charts in a number of countries. Yet we still can’t buy one here in America for at least another year, though when it does finally arrive, it won’t be alone, as a smaller Mitsubishi Outlander Sport PHEV is also in the works.

So says AutoGuide, which caught up with Mitsubishi executives at the New York Auto Show. Mitsu’s reveal of the “upgraded” Outlander (the conventional version) was kind of ho-hum, though it did show an increase in interior quality that Americans have come to expect from their SUVs. Before that though, a refreshed Mitsubishi Mirage will show up on dealer lots, and the little fuel-sipper have proven remarkably popular with economy car buyers.

Yet it isn’t cars that Mitsubishi is betting its future on, but rather trucks, SUVs, and of course plug-in cars. When the Outlander PHEV and Outlander Sport PHEV finally arrive in America, they will the market for plug-in family haulers still wide open. In Europe this has made the Outlander PHEV one of the best-selling plug-in cars on the continent, and there are rumors of a plug-in hybrid pickup as well. Old standbys though, like the Lancer Evolution and Galant, won’t be coming back to the Mitsu lineup anytime soon though. The world has just moved on, but that’s probably to Mitsubishi’s benefit.

A compact plug-in SUV seems to be just the thing the world needs right now, and if Mitsubishi can beat its competitors to market, it might be able to carve out a sizable niche for itself to help keep the comeback momentum going.

For the past couple of years Mitsubishi has gone back and forth on the fate of its premier sports car, the Lancer Evolution, teasing us with the idea of a hybrid successor before killing the idea completely. Instead, reports AutoCar, we’ll get a performance version of an unspecified plug-in hybrid SUV.

The company hasn’t decided which SUV will get a performance plug-in drivetrain, only that it will feature technology and knowledge gleaned from the company’s two i-MiEV Pikes Peak racers. The Super All Wheel Control system from the i-MiEV racers will send gas or electric power to all four wheels in the spirit of the Evo, though it’ll need to make a lot of power in order to move an SUV versus the compact sedan that was the Lancer. It’s also possible an all-new model, possibly based on the XR-PHEV concept, might just debut instead.

Mitsubishi basically has two options from this point; up the ante with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which is raking in the sales in Europe, or the smaller Outlander Sport, which could benefit from an injection of performance. The smaller Outlander Sport model makes the most sense if Mitsubishi really wants to embody the spirit of the departing Lancer Evo, but Mitsubishi already tipped its cards with the Outlander PHEV S Concept that debuted last week.

After Mitsubishi i-MiEV sales failed to take off, the company seems to have pulled back from its pure electric ambitions. Instead it is pursuing plug-in hybrids, with an all-new compact truck and a van version of the Outlander on deck.

Can a plug-in SUV fill the shoes of the Lancer Evo? That’s been the cause of intense debate within Mitsubishi, and once fans catch whiff of this move, they’re sure to have a few cents to add to the conversation as well.

Even so, U.S. sales of Mitsubishi vehicles are in a slump, and the company has delayed launching the Outlander PHEV in America, despite strong European interest. To jump start its modest US sales, the company will shortly introduce a revised line up of passenger cars. But more importantly, the company’s Executive Vice President Don Swearingen and U.S. PR chief Alex Fedorak told AutoBlog that the American version of the 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV due here in the fall of 2015 “will be completely different” from the hybrid SUV currently so overseas.

Customers have long complained that the materials Mitsubishi chooses for its interior feel cheap compared to the competition. We all want to save money, of course, but at the same time we don’t want to be reminded of it every time we climb behind the wheel. Fedorak says the interior of the Outlander PHEV will be upgraded significantly by the time the new model arrives to meet higher American standards. The new Outlander PHEV will also feature all new sheet metal, and although the company has not released any official photos yet, the Concept GC-PHEV making the rounds at world trade shows offers clues to the new “design language” Mitsubishi will apply to its updated Outlander, Montero and Outlander Sport. The company also plans to roll out a robust advertising campaign in support of its new models.

Will the Outlander PHEV be enough to re-invigorate Mitsubishi’s presence in the US market? Time will tell.

Nestled into the plains of Normal, Illinois and about the size of a small planet, Mitsubishi Motors North America’s factory will build about 70,000 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport models this year. That much I knew. What I didn’t realize was how much was really going on at the old Diamond-Star plant, or how much work MMNA put into making sure things are done right.

Once I got to Normal, IL, it was easy enough to find the MMNA factory. As I said, it’s the size of a planet, and seemed almost impossibly large- even knowing, as I did, that the plant pushed out nearly a quarter of a million cars per year back in the heyday of the Mitsubishi Eclipse/Eagle Talon twins. In the parking lot, I was greeted by a number of iMiEV electric cars …

… which served to let me know both that I was in the right place, and that Mitsubishi’s (and, indeed, Normal’s) commitment to EVs is a real thing.

Once inside, I met with Mitsubishi North America’s COO Jerry Berwanger. Berwanger is a gear head of the first order. He had more than 20 years’ experience at Ford before coming to sit in the big chair at Mitsubishi, and is capable of talking about his show-winning custom Harley-Davidsons, his Plymouth-powered “rat rod” pickup, his goals for the MMNA factory, and Mitsubishi’s excellent relationship with the UAW with equal knowledge, equal pride, and equal excitement.

“We’re the only transplant (foreign manufacturer) in the US that has a deal with the UAW,” says Jerry, as he pours me a coffee. “Mercedes doesn’t have one. BMW, Nissan, none of them.”

“Doesn’t that make it harder for you? Like, if GM or Ford does something the UAW doesn’t like, would your guys strike, as well?” I asked, like a good little conservabot.

I was floored. GM, Ford, Chrysler- all the big automakers let thousands upon thousands of workers go in the 90s and 00s, even before the crash in 2009. The idea that a factory which had, at one point, churned out 250,000 cars per year was carrying the same staff now, at a bit under 70,000, blew my mind. “How do you manage that?”

“It wasn’t easy,” he said.

I suddenly remembered reading about workers doing community service in the area, cleaning up the factory, planting trees, etc. It was a neat image, and the idea that Mitsubishi’s fate in North America was tied to its workers’ that directly gave me all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings.

After a bit more small talk, we headed down to the factory floor. Picture-taking was a no-no, but if you’ve ever seen an episode of How It’s Made, you’ll have a good sense of what it looked like in the Mitsu factory. Except, you know, a thousand times bigger and louder.

Our first stop was a plastic molding station, where the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport’s plastic bumpers and fenders are made. The machines press plastic pellets into a mould under tremendous pressures, and the parts are then trimmed and checked for compliance. If they pass, they go on a cart to be picked later in the assembly process. If they don’t, they get chopped up, and the plastic bits get used again in another part.

Instant recycling.

Berwanger explains that, in most factories, the plastic parts are shipped in from a supplier. If they don’t fit or aren’t right for some other reason, the plant might be stuck until the next batch arrives. At MMNA, the plastic compound, the mix’s temperature, even the moulding dies themselves can be changed and corrected. It keeps the plant moving and reduces the need to ship and transport a bunch of plastic parts.

Jerry also explained that MMNA uses a number of recycled and recyclable materials, in addition to the plastic. “A lot of the sheet steel we use is recyclable, and we send the metal we trim or cut off to scrap, where it gets melted back into the mix and sent back to us as a new roll of steel.”

We geeked out over the high-precision robots throughout the MMNA factory, and stopped at several points along the line to see some of the more interesting robots. Some of the best included the wheel-mounting ‘bot, as well as the robotic gymnasts that spun and contorted themselves with laser-guided precision to mount the dashboard and seats in the cars, without touching or scratching any other part. I’d even say the process looked “like a sort of mechanical ballet”, if I wasn’t certain someone cleverer had thought of it before me.

One thing that struck me as odd, some of the Mitsubishi Outlander Sports I was seeing had blacked-out grilles, black roof rails, and rode on steely wheels with deep, all-season treaded tires. “What are those?” I asked.

“Those are going to Russia,” explained Berwanger. He went on to explain that, for the most part, the Russian-bound cars were identical to the US versions. Here and there, however, there were differences. Different colors, interior trim, wheel options, and differences in the exterior lighting were the most obvious. Up close, the interior of the Russian cars had a few less buttons, but were still obviously quality pieces.

Russia is the factory’s biggest export market, I was told. Followed by a few other South American and eastern European nations, all of whom could get the Outlander Sport in a paramilitary-looking beige with blacked-out trim look.

“That would sell like crazy here in the ‘States,” I told Berwanger, who gave me a doubtful sort of nod in polite response. Apparently, MMNA’s market studies suggest otherwise.

Once we cleared the assembly line, we checked out MMNA’s quality control area. Here, cars are driven on rolling chassis dynos and the freshly-minted Mitsubishi Outlander Sports are checked by an auditor in a specially lit room. Any flaws the auditor finds are rated on a 1, 3, or 5 scale. The idea is that, if a flaw is found and rated a “3”, then “3 out of 10” customers would notice it. 1s and 3s are corrected, but if a 5 is found, then the workers on-hand have to go out into the lot and check the day’s batch of cars. If the flaw is found in another car, they all get pulled back in for the fix.

That’s some pretty serious QC, and the “polar vortices” we’ve been seeing in Illinois this month have to be pretty serious motivators to get the job right.

Here’s a few more photos of that process, which really impressed me. What about you, dear readers? Do you think the system works, or- more importantly- do you think Mitsubishi should offer a black-grilled, off-roady version of its Outlander Sport here in the US? Let us know what you think in the comments, below.

When the refrigerator white Mitsubishi Outlander Sport arrived in Oak Park, the area was still recovering from the record-cold of the “Polar Vortex” that had swept through days before. There was enough snow in the alley behind the house, still, that the wife’s Hyundai Tucson needed digging out more than once just to get in the garage. The little Mitsubishi? Not so much.

True to its Evo-filled heritage, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport went anywhere I pointed it with minimal drama. With the 4WD system in “auto” mode, the crossover found grip where it could and motored along, seemingly oblivious to the snow and ice. The only time it felt like we were driving on icy roads, in fact, was when I deliberately slammed the brakes to see if they’d lock up. The ABS engaged noticeably, but that was about it.

This isn’t one of those times. This, in fact, is what “a rave review” looks like.

I liked the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport on the outside, already. Once I got inside, I was pleasantly surprised by the lumbar support and comfortable headrests. The infotainment system was a fairly intuitive touchscreen deal, and the sound system …

… was nothing short of fantastic for a factory install. Sourced from Rockford Fosgate, the stereo produced clean sound from both MP3s and the satellite radio, and did a reasonable job of dropping bottom without bottoming out. Very slick.

Another thing that I found pretty slick was the Outlander Sport’s fuel economy. Granted, the Mitsu is equipped with a fuel-saving, performance-enhancing continuously variable transmission, but it also has a tall, wagon-y body with plenty of room for four adults and a week’s worth of luggage. It also has that ice-defying 4WD/AWD system soaking up MPG. Still, this what we got:

That’s nearly 26 MPG on the single-digit temperature drive from Oak Park to Normal, IL and back. On almost the same drive, in nearly identical conditions, the tiny Chevy Sonic gave back 28 MPG and change. In that context, going significantly “up” in size and utility from the Sonic to the Outlander Sport doesn’t seem to come with even a 10% fuel economy penalty. Would a 2WD Outlander Sport do as well as the Sonic on I-55? Would it do better?

Chris and I drove this particular Outlander Sport from Chicago’s Midway airport to the Detroit Auto Show, putting another several hundred miles on the clock in icy winter conditions and with the 4WD engaged. Most of the drive happened above 70 MPH, at night, and the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport never felt unstable or squirrel-ly, even in nasty, “warp speed” lookin’ snow. Throughout the drives, we never saw the MPG drop below 25 MPG on the highway. It’s hard to imagine, then, that the 2WD version (with less weight and mechanical drag) wouldn’t deliver on its 31 highway MPG promise.

That’s just my take on the car, though- what’s yours? Check out the photo gallery, below, and let us know what you think of the little Outlander Sport in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

The 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is shaping up to be one of the most impressive new car launches of the brand’s history, with 140+ MPG fuel economy and an advanced, all-wheel drive system collaborating to earn the room crossover the RJC’s Technology of the Year award. Mitsubishi didn’t stop at class-leading technology, though- the brand has responded to battery safety concerns by building this thing like a tank, and Mitsubishi’s Outlander is following up its IIHS Top Safety Pick+ performance by scoring the maximum 5 Star rating in Europe’s NCAP battery of crash tests.

Not bad, guys. Not bad at all!

You can read more about the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV’s European crash test scores in the company’s official press release, below.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced that the company’s Outlander PHEV mid-size crossover/SUV featuring MMC’s own Plug-in Hybrid EV System has been awarded a maximum 5-star rating in the 2013 Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), an overall safety rating system for new models launched in Europe*1. Euro NCAP puts new cars through some of the world’s toughest safety tests, including an array of crash tests.

String of Awards Redeems “@earth TECHNOLOGY”

This recognition is the latest in a string of awards that confirms MMC’s @earth TECHNOLOGY, the technologies that embody MMC’s Drive@earth pillars of environmental responsibility, driving pleasure, and toughness and safety – all of which are combined in the Outlander PHEV, the pinnacle of @earthTECHNOLOGY.

The Outlander PHEV was awarded the “Car of the Year Japan* 2013-2014’s Innovation Award” for its environmental performance and motive performance.

In addition, the Outlander PHEV’s Plug-in Hybrid EV System was recognized for its environmental performance and driving dynamics by the Automotive Researchers’ and Journalists’ Conference of Japan*3 (RJC), which in November named the plug-in hybrid EV system the “RJC Technology of the Year 2014.”

About the Outlander PHEV:

The world’s first plug-in hybrid crossover/SUV, the Outlander PHEV is an “electric car that changes itself” and represents a fusion of the EV technologies developed by MMC for models such as the i-MiEV, 4WD technologies honed in the Lancer Evolution, and SUV know-how gained from the Pajero (Montero or Shogun in some countries).

The Outlander PHEV is fitted with a combination of several advanced safety features including e-Assist*4 advanced safety technologies, Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE*5) high-rigidity impact safety body and SRS air bags and harmonizes high levels of performance in environment, safety and premium quality.

The Automotive Researchers and Journalists Conference (RJC) recently met in Japan to award the upcoming Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid SUV with its ultimate clean tech award, the RJC “technology of the year” award for 2014.

The Mitsubishi Outlander’s hybrid EV System features a high-capacity battery that sends juice to separate front and rear motors, and uses the gas engine primarily as an electrical generator. The gas engine can be engaged to drive the wheels whenever the ECU decides that’s the most efficient way of moving the SUV forward in a given driving condition – just like Chevy’s own plug-in hybrid Volt, except with all-wheel drive and room for more passengers.

You can find out more about Mitsubishi’s elegant plug-in hybrid system in the video, below, and let us know what you think of this extra-big AWD Volt-ish SUV in the comments at the bottom of this page. Enjoy!

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The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc., its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.